Railway safety device.



G. w. WEBER & w. J. MONTGOMERY. RAILWAY SAFETY DEVICE. APPLIOATiON FILED MAR.5, 1909.

927,909. Patented July 13, 1909.

a 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

0.11. Weasel-Q 4/ Man {garner G. W. WEBER & W. J. MONTGOMERY.

RAILWAY SAFETY DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 5, 1909.

927,909. Patented July 13, 1909.

2. SHEETSr-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. l

GEORGE W. WEBERAND WILLIAM J. MONTGOMERY,- or CUMBERLAND, MARYLAND.

. RAILWAY SAFETY nirvron.

Specification of'Letters Patent.

Patented July 13, 1909.

Application flled larch 6, 1909. Serial No. 481,220.

, Devices, of which the following is a speci cation. I

This invention comprehends certain new and useful improvements in safety devices .for railway systems, and relates particularly stalled on a locomotive, an

posltive 1n 1ts operation to vent the-traln' With this and other objects in view that to means for automatically bringing a train to a standstill, should the engineerpass a danger slgnal.

The invention has for its primary object a simple, durable and eihclentapparatus of this character which ma be easil mwhich will be ne of the locomotive, and thereby set the airbrakes when the tripping devices along the track have been set by the shifting of the block signal, or other signal, to the denger position.

will more fully appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists in certain constructions, arrangements and combina tions of the parts that we shall hereinafter fully describe. and claim,

and the merits thereof, and to acquirea @knowledge of the details of construction,

'referenceis to be had tothe following'description andaccompanying drawings, in which: g

' Figure 1 illustrates the front portion of a locomotive on a track equipped with the improvements otohr invention; Fig. 2 'isa topplan view of aportion of the device as mounted upon-the locomotive; Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view illustrating the valve handlefan a portion of a spring bo-acting therewith Fig.4 is'a sectional view illustrating the parts shown-in Fig. 3, in assembled re ation;-Fig. 5: is a detail sectional view of a form ofvalve'which may beemployed; ,Fig. 6 isan enlarged perspective view 0 the apparatus F1g; 7 is a detail sectional view 0 a portion of the mechanism :along'the track; and,'-Fig. Sis a similar view illustrating the lower end of the trip lever.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in thefollowing description and indicated For. a'full understanding ofthe invention"v the horizontall port 2, one on of said spring being connectin all the views of the drawings by the same reference characters.

In carrying out ourinvention, we secure to some convenienb oint on the locomotive, preferably one en of the pilot bumper 1, a support 2which, in the present instance, consists of a vertically disposed plate 3 bolted or otherwise secured at its upper end to the rear side of the bumper 1 at one. end of the latter, a vertically disposed plate 4 extending at right angles to the plate 3, and a horizontally disposed plate'5 extending inwardly from the uper edge of the plate 4.

6 designates a brace which is preferably secured at one end to the 'plate 4-11ear the lower end thereof, and which is secured at its inner end (not shown) to a convenient portion of the locomotive.

7 designates a valve which may be of any desired construction or design, but which is preferably of the type illustratedin Fig. 5, aving a tapered turning plug 8 spring held on its seat and provided wlth an upper end 9 which projects upwardly through the horizontally disposed plate 5'.' One port ofthe valve 7 opens to the atmosphere, while the 10, or the like, to the train line 11, at .any suitable point. Obviously, the opening of the valve '7 will ventthe train pi e and set other is connected by a flexible hose coupling the air brakes, thereb bringing t e locomotive or train toa stan still. 1

A contractile spring 12 is mounted upon disposed plate, 5 of the suped to a stud 13 which proj ects upwardly from the plate, and the 0t and longitudinally slotted as'at 15. This last named end of the spring embraces an apertured lug 16 formed on'one side of a valve handle 17 which is ada. ted to he slipped over and secured upon t e polygonal upper end 9 of the lug 8. A pin 18 is designe to be inserted t rough the lug 16, the pin'and the coiled end 14 of the spring being held 1n lace by a set screw 19 working through the liig 16 so as to detachably secure the spring 1 The handle 17 is normally held in the lposition illustrated in Fig. 6 by means of a 00k- 20 which is pivotally carried on the outer face of the plate 4. The lower end of the to the valve handle.

h'ook or detent 20 is engaged by the upper er endof said spring being coiled upon itself as indicated at 14,

20 from the valve handle 17, permitting the contractile spring 12 to act and open the' valve. I

In order to automatically trip the lever 23, we have provided track devices'which are under the control of the signal operator, and which are preferably actuated simultaneously with the signal. These track devices include a trip lever 26 having a relatively wide head or free end 25 designed to be extended into the path of movement of the lower arm of the lever 23 so as to engage the same and set the brakes. The head 25 is laterally widened, as shown, so as to compensate for any swaying of the locomotive. The lever 26 is secured to a longitudinally extending shaft 27 journaled to turn about its longitudinal axis in hearings or standards 28 projecting upwardly from a base plate 29 secured in any desired way alongside 1 of the track. The movement of the trip lever 26 in a vertical plane, as shown, is limited in one direction by means of a stop barj30 which is secured to the rear side of two of the standards 28, and which is designed to engage with the recessed end 31 of the trip, lever. Theshaft 27 carries a crank 32 provided with a laterally extending wrist pin 33, and working in slots 34 extending longitudinally in a slide or actuating device 35. This actuating device 35 is secured tonne of the rods 36 of-an interlocking block signal system or the like. (not shown), and is designed to be actuated si multaneously with the signal mechanism. The crank 32 extends downwardly in a vertically disposed longitudinall extending slot 37 formed in-the actuating evice 35.

In the practical operation of our railway safety device, the valvehandle 17 is moved by hand, or b the use of any desired tools, to the position i lustrated in Fig. 6, placing the contractile sprin 12'under tension and closing the valve. I he handle is held in this position by engagement with thehook 20. The safety mechanismcarried by the locomotive, is thus set. v white, it will be understood that the trip lever 26, co acting with such signal, remains in lowered position where it will not strike the downwardly projecting lower arm of the lever 23. Should the signal be changed to green, still no movement would be imparted to the trip lever 26, owing to the lost motion connection between the actuating device 35 and the crank 32 effected through the instru So long as the signal shows mentality of the side slots 34. When, however, an additionalmovement is imparted to the rod 36 by the movement ofthe signal to show red, indicating that the train should cometo a stop, the actuating device 35 will be positively engaged by the crank 32, and

tion to throw the lever 26 up into an operative position where it will engage the lever 23 of the next locomotive which comes along, and thereb disengage the lever 20 fromthe valve hand e 17. This permits the spring 12 to act to throw the valve handle around in a direction to open the valve and exhaust the air pressure from the train line, thereby setting the brakes and bringing the train to a standstill. 1 If desired, the operative parts that are carried by the locomotive, may be protected from the'elements, orfrom being tampered with, by means of-a cover 37 hinged to the horizontally disposed plate 5 designed to close down ever the valve-actuating spring and handle, such .cover being provided with an extension 37 which, in the closed position of the cover, pro'ects downwardly over the hook 17 It is ciear that the tension of the spring 12 pressing the handle 17 against the hook 20 prevents the handle from being released by any 'ars or blows other than the blow upon the lever 23. i

It is to be understood that the devices on the locomotive are sus ended high enough tions alongside the track; that they will not interfere with the working of any part of the locomotive; that they are so situated on the -locomotive as to be in nowise liable to be accidentally operated by any foreign substance which might happen to be picked up by the wheels of the locomotive, or by the suction of the air, when runnirrg--a1-high speed. ltis also to be understood that the tripping device maybe connected to switches, drawbridges, crossing gates or the like, by a direct communication, without-using the slide 35 which is' designated for connection with the semaphore.

- While the invention is herein shown as applied to a locomotive, it is to be understood use on electric cars, or in'faet on any cars or other vehicles using air brakes.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. The combination with a train line, of a valve connected thereto and arranged to exhaust the air pressure therefrom, a handle connected to said. valve, a support for said valve, a contractile spring connected at one end to the supportand at its other end to the valve handle, and arranged to move the valve handle in adirection to open the valve, a hook pivotally mounted upon the su port and designed to engage the valve han le to that the invention is equally applicable for second vertically disposed hold the valve closed, a lever fulcrumed intermediate of its ends on said su port, one arm of said lever engaging the heel lever fulcrumed on the support, one arm of said last named lever engaging the other arm of the first named lever, and the other arm of said first named lever projecting below the same, and track devices arranged to trip said last named lever by engagement with the arm thereof. v

2. An apparatus of the character described, comprising a support embodying'a vertically disposed plate designed to be secured to the pilot bumper of a locomotive, a plate extending substantially at right angles to the first named vertical plate, and ahorizontally disposed plate extending inwardly from the upper edge of said second named vertical plate, a valve, a train line with which said valve has operative connection to vent the same, said valve being secured to the support underneath the horizontally disposed plate thereof and embodying a turning plug projecting upwardly through said horizontally disposed plate, a handle mounted upon the upwardly projecting end of the plug and ar-.

ranged to sweep over the upper surface of the horizontally disposed plate, sprrng means tending to move said handle 1n a direction to open the valve, a hook pivotally mounted upon the second vertically disposed plate of the support and arranged to engage said handle to hold the valve closed, a lever fulcrumed on said last named plate and arranged upon movement in one direction to disengage the hook from the handle, and track devices arranged to trip said levers 3. In railway safety devices of the character described, a train line vent valve, a handle connected thereto to control'the same,

i, another said handle being formed with an apertured lug, a support for said valve, 'a spring connected at oneend to the support, the other end of said spring being slotted to embrace.v

scribed, track devices embodying a trip lever,

a shaft carried by said lever, a crank secured to said shaft, supports in which said shaft is journaled, a wristpin carried by said crank, an actuating device formed with a longitudinal slot accommodating said wrist pin, and an actuating'rod co nected to said actuating device.

5. In an apparatus of the character de-,

scribed, track devices embodying a trip lever, an actuating shaft upon which said lever is mounted, supports in which said'shaft is journaled, a crank secured to said shaft, an actuating device formed with a vertically disposed longitudinal slot accommodating said crank and with a secured to the crank and working in said side side slot, a wrist pin slot, and a signal-actuating rod connected to said actuating device.

In testimony whereof we aflix our signatures infpresehce of two witnesses.

, GEORGE W. WEBER.

WILLIAM J. MONTGOMERY. Witnesses FRANCIS S. DEEKENS, p A. G. MoEL'FIsH. 

